it at a mall or Wal-Mart parking lot or somewhere like that, and send him a postcard telling him where it was. I knew he’d be boilin’ mad, but I figured if he got his car back he wouldn’t care much about my leaving.”
“But you told him the car was wrecked, and he was boiling mad.”
“Maybe I should have told him it was wrecked, but I-I didn’t. I was afraid it would take too long for a postcard to get there, so I called and told him where the car was. I decided I’d just let the fact that the car was now shaped like a red horseshoe around a tree be a surprise to him.” Her smile was grimly humorless.
“You also figured when he got to the car and found it wrecked that he’d send the authorities after you. That’s why you’re so nervous around the police.”
She nodded. “But I was even more afraid if Boone found me there with the car he’d kill me on the spot. That’s why I started walking and hitchhiking. I know it isn’t safe. But I figured it was safer than being around when Boone got there.”
She pushed the curtain aside and peered down the road toward town.
“You think he might be trying to track you down now?”
“Boone gets even with people. Always. I know he slashed tires on the car of a guy he had an argument with. He got fired from a car repair shop one time. It burned down a few weeks later. Nothing ever came of it. But he did it. I heard him and his brother laughing about it. He wouldn’t mind killing me. He wouldn’t mind killing me at all,” she repeated with a tremor in her voice.
In some other situation I might have found such a statement melodramatic and unbelievable, but with what I’d already heard of Boone I had no doubt Abilene’s worries were justified. The man sounded capable of almost anything. A brother in kind, if not in blood, with the murderous Braxtons.
But still, the situations were rather different. The Braxtons’ brother had gone to prison because of me. “But it is just a car,” I pointed out. “Would he really try to track you down because of a car?”
“Not ‘just a car.’” Another of those grim smiles. “At least not to Boone. It’s a Porsche. And he’s had it less than a year.”
“A Porsche?”
“A Porsche 911 Carrera, to be exact. He loves that car like . . . like some men love their wife and kids, I guess. He was always polishing it. He had the whole door repainted when it got a nick you could barely see. Lily threw a ball that accidentally hit the car one time, and he grabbed her and shook her so hard her . . . her eyes rolled back in her head. I’d never have taken his precious Porsche if there was any other way, but I couldn’t get away from him on the tractor.”
“How did he manage to get a Porsche? They aren’t exactly cheap.”
“His dad died. Each of the sons wound up with quite a lot of money. I never knew exactly how much. But I was hoping we could buy a new mobile home, one of those nice double wides. So the kids could have bedrooms of their own, and we’d have a kitchen stove that worked. I thought we could get Randy’s teeth fixed, and take Alisha to an allergy specialist.”
“But Boone bought a new Porsche instead.”
“With all the options.”
My sense of Christian love and charity is sorely tried by someone like Boone Morrison. In spite of the afternoon warmth in the motor home, Abilene suddenly shivered, and I knew she was thinking about Boone coming after her. But a bright thought suddenly occurred to me.
“You said the car was less than a year old. Was it insured?”
“I don’t know. Boone took care of things like that. I couldn’t even write a check. My name wasn’t on the bank account.”
“So surely he’d insure his most prized possession. And now he can take the insurance money and buy himself a new Porsche!”
“I never thought of that. Hey, I guess he can!” Abilene’s back straightened as if the weight of the Porsche was sliding off her shoulders. Her eyes lit up. “By the time
“But you told him the car was wrecked, and he was boiling mad.”
“Maybe I should have told him it was wrecked, but I-I didn’t. I was afraid it would take too long for a postcard to get there, so I called and told him where the car was. I decided I’d just let the fact that the car was now shaped like a red horseshoe around a tree be a surprise to him.” Her smile was grimly humorless.
“You also figured when he got to the car and found it wrecked that he’d send the authorities after you. That’s why you’re so nervous around the police.”
She nodded. “But I was even more afraid if Boone found me there with the car he’d kill me on the spot. That’s why I started walking and hitchhiking. I know it isn’t safe. But I figured it was safer than being around when Boone got there.”
She pushed the curtain aside and peered down the road toward town.
“You think he might be trying to track you down now?”
“Boone gets even with people. Always. I know he slashed tires on the car of a guy he had an argument with. He got fired from a car repair shop one time. It burned down a few weeks later. Nothing ever came of it. But he did it. I heard him and his brother laughing about it. He wouldn’t mind killing me. He wouldn’t mind killing me at all,” she repeated with a tremor in her voice.
In some other situation I might have found such a statement melodramatic and unbelievable, but with what I’d already heard of Boone I had no doubt Abilene’s worries were justified. The man sounded capable of almost anything. A brother in kind, if not in blood, with the murderous Braxtons.
But still, the situations were rather different. The Braxtons’ brother had gone to prison because of me. “But it is just a car,” I pointed out. “Would he really try to track you down because of a car?”
“Not ‘just a car.’” Another of those grim smiles. “At least not to Boone. It’s a Porsche. And he’s had it less than a year.”
“A Porsche?”
“A Porsche 911 Carrera, to be exact. He loves that car like . . . like some men love their wife and kids, I guess. He was always polishing it. He had the whole door repainted when it got a nick you could barely see. Lily threw a ball that accidentally hit the car one time, and he grabbed her and shook her so hard her . . . her eyes rolled back in her head. I’d never have taken his precious Porsche if there was any other way, but I couldn’t get away from him on the tractor.”
“How did he manage to get a Porsche? They aren’t exactly cheap.”
“His dad died. Each of the sons wound up with quite a lot of money. I never knew exactly how much. But I was hoping we could buy a new mobile home, one of those nice double wides. So the kids could have bedrooms of their own, and we’d have a kitchen stove that worked. I thought we could get Randy’s teeth fixed, and take Alisha to an allergy specialist.”
“But Boone bought a new Porsche instead.”
“With all the options.”
My sense of Christian love and charity is sorely tried by someone like Boone Morrison. In spite of the afternoon warmth in the motor home, Abilene suddenly shivered, and I knew she was thinking about Boone coming after her. But a bright thought suddenly occurred to me.
“You said the car was less than a year old. Was it insured?”
“I don’t know. Boone took care of things like that. I couldn’t even write a check. My name wasn’t on the bank account.”
“So surely he’d insure his most prized possession. And now he can take the insurance money and buy himself a new Porsche!”
“I never thought of that. Hey, I guess he can!” Abilene’s back straightened as if the weight of the Porsche was sliding off her shoulders. Her eyes lit up. “By the time
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